adoption on the census form

I’m posting over at Grown in My Heart today, talking about the controversy over the adoption box on the census form. People have strong feelings one way or the other, and many adoptive parents have expressed outrage over being asked to delineate how their children joined the family.

For me personally, I didn’t mind the question, but I understand how some find it offensive. I believe it can be good information to have, and because it is collected in a way that is confidential and not shaming towards the child, I don’t see how it would cause them harm. I am sympathetic to feeling like adopted kids are “othered”, and I do feel that in some settings so I can relate to the cringe. But at the same time, I don’t feel there should be shame in a child’s adoption status, either, and a piece of anonymous paper seems benign enough to me (and maybe even useful, but then again I’m a research geek). Perhaps I am influenced by being a trans racial family, where my childrens’ adoption status is apparent to anyone who sees us. I checked the box without hesitation on our census form.